DRACULA 1979 on 10/19 (1 Viewer)

[Mike_Richardson]

A mini-review has been posted on The Aisle Seat website:

http://www.andyfilm.com

 

[Steve Christou]

SHIT!

Well I did say it was unconfirmed, um are you guys sure you had the color turned up? Maybe there's a bit more color than the previous release (he said hopefully).Damn!

 

[Steve Phillips]

Bad news indeed.

I'm still going to buy it for the special features, and for the fact that it is at the full 2:35 to 1.

I still have the old panned and scanned LD release, which isn't OAR but it does have the original color. I guess I'll be keeping it. :frowning:

 

[Robert Floto]

Other than the bad decision on the color, how is this new transfer?

 

[Matthew Kiernan]

Universal's decision to remove theatrical trailers from their reissues really irks me. Don't these major studios understand that the audience really like trailers?

OK, well I like trailers. But I know I'm not alone in that!

 

[Al (alweho)]

As I understand it, on more current films (from the '70s onwards) the removal usually has to do with music rights.

Many trailers use music from other films, since usually the soundtracks aren't finished yet. (Marketing also likes to give aural hints to the audience as to what kind of movie to expect.)

Disney's Mulan trailer for example used the score from Universal's DragonHeart. Early reviews say the trailer is not included on the DVD. The music from Forest Gump and Dave has been used in many trailers, as has Rocketeer.

With DVD the huge moneymaking machine that it is for studios now, its easy to see why so many people want a piece of that pie for their efforts.

This was also the main reason we lost isolated music scores - composers wanted to be paid for an "extra" on the DVD that might affect their soundtrack CD sales. (Plus it was easier to build that extra fee into a LaserDisc box set with a $100 price point, as opposed to a DVD with a $20 retail list.)

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Oh, fannies!

Oh, well, roll with the punches...

 

[Robert Floto]

So no comment on the new transfer? Other than the muted color, of course...

 

[Gary Palmer]

Sorry, Robert, I meant to post this response to your enquiry last night, but it slipped my mind: So far, I've only had a brief look at the disc, just to confirm the issues which have dominated this particular thread, not enough to make a judgment on the quality of the transfer. The small bits and pieces I looked at seem fine, but then, I wouldn't expect any less from Universal. If someone doesn't beat me to it, I'll report back on pic/sound quality as soon as I've given the disc a proper once-over...

 

[Mike_Richardson]

My copy finally came in. The transfer is very good -- an improvement on the original DVD, which I believe was sourced from the same laserdisc master. I'm used to the tinting now so it's not much of a huge issue for me, as much as I'd like to see the original cinematography.

The supplements are great. The documentary is superb and Badham's commentary is excellent as well. I believe the "Some Music Re-Scored For Video" disclaimer (which has been on the film for years) only has to do with one scene where a phonograph is playing background music -- nothing that impacts the movie whatsoever.

Definitely a purchase if you like the movie, IMHO.

 

[Robert Floto]

Thanks! It would have been nice to have the color corrected, but I think I will go ahead and upgrade anyway.

 

[Paul_Scott]

just chapter skipped thru this disc this morning, and while i would have preferred the film to look the way it originally had theatrically, i can't say i have a huge problem with the way it looks here.
the film has not been desaturated to the point of being black and white and while the colors are very muted, they are still there, with a subtle, ghoulish, greenish tinge to most shots.
not what i wanted, but its still quite watchable.
the only big negatives to the image, from what i can gather in my very limited viewing are what look to be, most likely some film grain that i first mistook for artifacting.
actually, i'll have to look closer later and make sure it isn't artifacting.
at least the EE is not objectionable.

as others have already said, this is a quantum leap over the old image disc, and a great adaptation of the material (i too like it considerably more than the Coppola film).

looking forward to sitting down with this one again


my only disappointment with the package is the absence of what was a really fun trailer.

 

[Matthew Kiernan]

Yes and no. That practice began around the mid to late 80s. Prior to that, trailers were not usually produced as far in advance as they are today. The standard trailer would show up in theaters about a month before the release date, so many of the post-production elements of a film (score, opticals) were pretty complete.

I have the laserdisc to DRACULA and the trailer contains the John Williams score. The original trailer to JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, another recent Universal re-release missing a trailer, contains the music to... JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. And not the LP version.

I don't understand how studios like Fox and Warners have no problem placing classic trailers to their catalog titles on a regular basis, while Universal (at least lately) and Paramount don't put the effort into it. Like I said, this irks me. I'm really, really irked.

Hey studios, don't irk me off! We want trailers!

 

[Steve Christou]

And I feel irked off at Badham for releasing Dracula in irk-worthy sepia tone, surprised he hasn't replaced John Williams great score with irking organ music.

 

[Will Krupp]

Well I finally got to give this a thorough watch and it really IS leaps and bounds ahead of the older disc! The color may be muted, but certainly not to the extent that it was on the old IMAGE.

I did a comparison between the two and was pleasantly surprised that the shots that suffered most from the color draining on the old disc looked quite good here.

If anybody doesn't have the older disc to compare, it's obvious in the "making of" doc that uses the old master for clips. The two shots I always found MOST objectionable were Renfield's first entry to Carfax Abbey and Dracula and Lucy talking on the balcony about "creatures of the night." In the old disc, these shots were a sickly grey color and just nasty. Here, there is actual COLOR (though muted) and detail not previously present.

The ONLY complaint I have about the image quality is that it's a little too dark overall.

It may not represent original theatrical prints, but it is certainly closer than what was previously available and I at least KINDA GET what Badham is trying to do. He is just able to do it a little more successfully this time.

Anyway, sorry to ramble. It's a good disc and I suggest you pick it up.

Just a side note, after the troubles I had trying to find a copy of DAMN YANKEES in Boston on release day (which I lamented to some great length in another thread), I decided to try BORDER'S in downtown Boston again for this disc yesterday. Now, remembering this is a downtown location in a major metropolitan area, I was (yet again) SHOCKED that they ran out of this disc because they only received FOUR!!
FOUR!!!! Who is doing the ordering for these chains??

Anyway, that's all folks..one quick question though. What color where the opening titles in the theatrical version??

 

[Douglas R]

The picture looks really good to me. If I had not read this thread I would never have known, or thought, that the color had been "drained".

 

[Paul_Scott]

finally got around to watching this last night, and i agree with you wholeheartedly Will.
before it started i turned up the color setting on my projector from 33 to 70+ and the picture was highly satisfying.
and afterwards i watched the making of doc and the difference between the clips used there was shocking! they were every bit as awful as i remember the Image disc being- complete with all the non anamorphic, compression related artifacting.
an absolutely horrid image- which makes this new disc a major league improvment.

another small reason why this year was so damned fantastic

 

[Dick]

Badham explains his reasons for this color scheme during his pretty decent commentary track. He wanted to duplicate the "black and white etchings" look of Edward Gorey's work. But in 1979, they had no way of desaturing the color the way he wanted, so the film was actually released more saturated, or "warmed up." Then, by the time the widescreen laser and DVD were in preparation, he could achieve digitally what he'd been unable to before. But I think he botched it. He says he finally got the desired effect of accentuating the whites, the grays, and the flesh tones, but the flesh tones are just as desaturated as anything else and to my eye the picture is simply unpleasant. I keep wanting the next reel to be more pleasing. This dull look takes me out of the story in ways that the desaturation of, say, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN did not, for this is a re-tooling of something I remember as full of deep reds and gorgeous blues. It's Badham's baby and he can do what he wants, but for me this is no longer the elegant, rather beautiful film it once was and I've no desire to watch it again in its present form.

 

[Kevin M]

I'm not sure how he wanted it, but they could indeed desaturate color since (as an example) Martin Scorsese had to do so in the massacre sequence of Taxi Driver (1976) in order to get an R rating, the red of the blood was deemed to shocking...I'm not sure how they felt about the realistic muddy disgusting brown/red color the scene took on after desaturation however, IMO it heightened the shocking gritty snuff film quality of the scene.

What did Badham say was so difficult in the way he wanted to desaturate the color?

 

[Paul_Scott]

i snuck into the theater back in 79 and saw this, but i honestly can't remember the color values that were on display.
like Will said though, this is a major improvment over the Image disc- the clips used in the making of doc provide ample proof- things like the balcony scene look considerably different on the new disc, and like i said, once i racheted up the color setting, i found the image to be very satisfying in regards to color vibrancy and saturation.
i'm sure it is probably not consistent with the threatical look the film had back then, but taken on its own, i find the image here, in regards to color (after fudging my display) to be extremely effective.
the old image disc had an picture that was a very inept, artificial, and extreme attempt at B&W.
i don't find that with the new disc at all.